


Since You’ve Been Gone

by NightSkyWriter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Ben Braeden Remembers, Dean Winchester is Ben Braeden's Parent, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Fluff in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Gen, Hunter Ben Braeden, the bunker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightSkyWriter/pseuds/NightSkyWriter
Summary: After ten years, Ben Braeden finds Dean and now he’s a hunter too.
Relationships: Ben Braeden & Dean Winchester, Ben Braeden & Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Since You’ve Been Gone

Dean stepped out of the Impala and shut the door behind him.   
The Bunker was out of bread and a few other necessities and Dean needed to get out anyway.   
So grocery run it was.   
He had stopped at the closest grocery store and decided he just pick everything up from there. The old man who ran the place smiled when Dean walked in and waved. 

Dean thought the mans name was Phil, but he wasn’t positive.  
Dean smiled back.   
It had been years since he’d stayed in one place long enough to be recognized.

He walked through the aisles picking up what they needed. He even picked up some kind of salad pack that Sam would probably like and a pie for himself. When Sam shopped he stuck to the budget, but Dean figured they needed to splurge every now and then.

Once Dean reached the produce section, Dean stopped.

The hair on the back of his neck was standing and he felt like someone was following him.

Dean glanced up and found one of those mirrors that stores loved to install to catch kids trying to steal.

He spotted a boy, no older than twenty-two standing in an aisle behind Dean.

He was pretending to look at food but he kept looking at Dean. At the angle the man was standing, Dean couldn’t see his face. He ran through the list of enemies he and Sam currently had but no one matched the description. 

Dean considered going for Ruby’s knife but figured here wasn’t the place.

Acting like he hadn’t noticed the guy, Dean continued but cut the trip short.

Dean checked out the groceries and walked out the store, carrying the bags.

Instead of walking to the Impala and risking any damage to her, Dean carried the bags behind the store and into the alley. He didn’t have to look behind him to know the guy was still following him. 

At the next corner, Dean turned and quietly lowered the bags and took out Ruby’s knife. 

A second later the man came around the corner and Dean shoved him against the alley wall. Dean pushed the knife against his throat enough so the guy would know it was there without doing any serious damage. 

The force from Dean pushing the guy back made his hood fall off and made the guy _oof_. 

Dean looked at the guy who was now giving Dean a furious look when realisation dawned and Dean backed up, dropping the knife like it burned him. 

“Ben?” Dean asked. 

“Hi, Dean,” Ben said, sending Dean a glare. Ben rubbed his neck. “It’s been what, ten years?”

 _Ten years, three months, and seventeen days,_ Dean thought. 

“Something like that,” Dean said. Dean frowned. “You remember me?”

Ben shrugged. “Your friend’s memory theft lasted a while but then, ironically, I got into an actual car crash and they all came back.”

”You remember everything?” Dean asked. 

Ben nodded, the movement making the necklaces around his neck flash when the sun hit them. 

Dean recognised the anti-possession necklace but couldn’t see the others easy enough. 

A large knife was on Ben’s side and it looked like he had a gun on his other side. 

His forearms had too many scars and one of them even looked like a vamp bite. 

“You aren’t a—“

”Hunter?” Ben shrugged. “It was the only way to find you.”

Dean leaned back against the opposite wall. It had all been for nothing. Ben was a hunter. Dean failed. He’s given up everything and it hadn’t even mattered.

“Does your mom—“

”No. She doesn’t remember. She thinks I’m at college in Maine.”

Dean shook his head. “I told you not to do this. I did everything—“

”I asked you not to leave, Dean. I begged you to stay.”

”You know why I couldn’t.”

”I still became a hunter. And I get it. I get why you wanted me to stay out of it but...” Ben shook his head. “I’m good at it. I’m a good Hunter.”

Dean shook his head again. Ben had grown. He was as tall as Dean but looked so much like Lisa.

Dean looked away.

”Come on,” Dean said, walking back to the parking lot.

Ben frowned, but followed Dean.

“Where are we going?”

”Home.”

When Dean reached the Impala, he opened the truck and took out a silver knife.

”Seriously?” Ben asked.

”Sam and I have too many enemies. Can’t risk it.”

Ben grudgingly stuck his forearm out.

Dean gritted his teeth and made a thin cut on Ben’s arm. He moved as slow as possible and looked up at Ben’s face to see if he’d accidentally cut too deep.

When Sam checked if Dean was a shifter or vice versa, they didn’t try to hurt each other but if it hurt a little it wasn’t a big deal. But Dean couldn’t keep the same policy with Ben.

Sure, Ben was an adult now and a hunter, but Dean still saw him as the Ben he knew. Even through Ben had plenty of scars, it felt wrong cutting him even if it was necessary.

”Not a shifter,” Dean muttered. He took out the Holy Water next and splashed it on Ben.

Evidently Ben hadn’t expected the water.

”Damn it,” Ben snapped.

”Language.” Dean shut the trunk then turned to get in the car before Ben saw him laughing.

Dean put the Impala in park and heard Ben pull up behind him. 

He looked in the rear view mirror, watching Ben.

Dean knew he should have been angry that Ben was a hunter and that Cas’s attempt at making him forget had failed, but Dean wasn’t. He wasn’t happy, that wasn’t the right word. But seeing Ben again... Having Lisa and Ben for that year had been one of the best years of Dean’s life.

Dean got out. He heard the tail end of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” playing on the radio before Ben turned his truck off. 

Dean nodded. So the kid still had good taste in music.

“What is this place?” Ben asked, looking up at the entrance to the Bunker. He wrinkled his nose in a way that was very Lisa. “You live here?”  
  


Dean glanced to Ben and grinned. “It doesn’t look like much but it does the job. Come on. Sam will want to see you.”


End file.
